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Re: Transformers: Energon & Beyond

OK, I found a lot today.

I saw ArCee - the pink fembot who turns into a motorcycle! It's cool to finally see ArCee get some justice done to her. Too bad I don't collect that line. She looked pretty good. Now they just need to make an Alternator for her. I don't think any modern car companies are doing anything in PINK for 2005 though...

I saw Sharkticon and this super-military-stealth boat looked great! It's supposed to be GNAW a SHARKTICON, that turns into a shark of course, but nevermind continuity

I saw the new Hot Shot -this looked cool. I wish they'd call him Hot Rod like he's supposed to be named. Meanwhile, he needs an Alternator for sure!

The big news is in ALTERNATORS - my line!

I finally found Hound! I definitely like him. This wave will pegwarm though - the package is dark and makes a poor presentation for him and Silverstreak.

In fact I turned down Silverstreak. I guess I don't need to buy rehashes (Smokescreen repainted). I don't want a whole Autobot Armada, just a small battle squad I guess.

I also saw Dead End there. WOW! This one looks hot, but I'm keeping with my religious beliefs that Decepticons are not cars unless they are COMBINERS.

I know we'll also see Swindle (from Hound's sculpt), and can only grumble that the Combaticons can't all possibly be produced since Blast-Off was a space shuttle and hardly going to be in scale with Dead End (not that they should have ever been used for the same combiner team in the first place - save for the fact that in the cartoon, the characters can change their sizes when they transform).

Anyway, a Yellow Tracks was shown on Dead End's Packaging. I doubt I'd buy that and plan on going with the blue.

Re: Transformers: Energon & Beyond

No, and I don't think even Hasbro knows for sure what names they owned, I heard they were blindsided initially by the loss of the name "Hot Rod".

I found Sharkticon and Slugslinger the other day when the car had a flat tire right in front of Target.

Sharkticon:

Alt mode is unsure if itself, designers didn't take it all the way, the legs and arms really aren't hidden or integrated all that well, and the bulk of the vehicle is taken up by the backpack. I guess it's a shark-looking sub with fins at the middle and rear, but it sure doesn't look like much of anything. Every turret rotates and has guns which elevate though. The orange color is an absolute eyesore, and the light-mint plastic & paint is yucky; the front of the sub has a big purple 'Con logo. The submarine's bridge should have been some sort of gimmick, even if it was just retracting or something. There are 4 peg holes on the upper hull, 2 of which are too close to the bridge and thus fairly useless while the other 2 are near the back and are actually screw holes as well; there's a pair of minicon hardpoints on the rear thrusters. Hyper Power Mode (HPM) here doesn't look as cool as I expected, and the missile triggers are VERY prone to accidental firings.

Transformation is boring and negligible, just pivot his arms up, fold his waist down, and move his backpack. I feel a little cheated here.

Bot mode has even more orange in play, figure is fairly good, solid humanoid design, definitely an acceptable soldier. Hips are on limited ball-joints, neck is on a limited ball joint, waist rotates, universal-jointed shoulders with an upper-bicep pivot, elbows and knees are hinges, ankles are also limited hinges. The spark crystal is located in the middle of the chest and is the only 'Con logo on the front of the figure. The face is lost due to it being very dark, with poorly-lightpiped blue eyes and a black mouthplate. The big black backpack of doom is almost as big as the figure itself and offers nothing positive without HPM. The most annoying feature are the thrusters attached to the forearms, they have big fins sticking out either side which get in the way of a lot of poses (in fact, the bigger of the 2 fins on either forearm is the one closer to the body!), the designers should have made these removable so they could act as handguns since figure has no real accessories (just 2 plain clear-blue missiles); Sharky can hold others' accessories no problem though. HPM in bot mode brings the massive missile launchers and their turrets into play, it doesn't look impressive but does give the guy some major firepower - you can also rotate the launchers around to become a makeshift jetpack.

Overall - I'd give this figure a 3 out of 5, he's ok but not great. His best attribute is he bolsters the under-represented Decepticon troops in this line. If either his colors or those crappy forearm fins were dealt with in the reissue, he'd be a much better figure.

---

Slugslinger:

Alt mode is wild, a sleek, futuristic twin-cockpit future-jet that in some ways looks like nothing and in others is one of the best jets in recent years. The colors don't quite go together, what with gray, dark metallic olive, metallic blue, dark blue, black, orange, and clear yellow cockpits (the cockpits are really creative, with the canopy and seats being molded all in one piece), but they're muted enough to get along. The underside has 4 landing gear, the front 2 fully retract and the rear 2 fold forward but not into anything (which causes an issue in bot mode). There are 2 loose pegholes near the rear stabilizers, and a minicon point on each wing's turbofan top. Alt mode can be a bit delicate due to the way a few pegs hold major segments in place, but it holds together fairly well. Hasbro is a liar concerning this alt mode's HPM, there's no way in hell the 2 halves of the vehicle will stay level when split away from the center unless you have it sitting on a surface - if you ignore the official photos, the HPM has the halves dropping down to a vertical position facing belly to belly with a missile-launching gun in the middle.

If Slugslinger's transformation isn't the most complicated in the line, I'll be really surprised. There's so much panel folding going on here, you can actually lose track of what you've already done. The shoulders rotating around 180 degrees is quite creative, the overall transformation doesn't even change the locations of most of the parts yet still feels quite satisfying.

Bot mode is very nifty for the most part, what was gappy before is now whole, and the colorscheme remains essentially the same but there is a lot more gray added to the mix - it's a very robotic look. The face is a bit like Batman's Two-Face, one side is a regular eye and normal mouth expression, while the other side sports a more mechanical "monocle" eye and a big, open, teeth-gritting grimmace; the eyes are yellow and light-piped, but small compared to most light-piped eyes. The powerplant of the jet is now the chest, with the spark crystal right in the middle; the other faction logo is a small painted 'Con symbol is on the left shoulder. The figure sports standard head, limited universal-jointed shoulders with an upper-bicept swivel, hinged elbows & knees (and feet, but mainly for transformation), swivel lower thighs, and ball-jointed hips - and that doesn't include the various wings. The biggest annoyance are the shoulders - the jet thrusters sticking out the back of the upper arms, the wings on the shoulders, and the landing gear off the sides of the upper arms all can get in the way a lot of the time. While the figure's fists can hold accessories, the forearms are pretty tall and can get in the way. Slugslinger has forearm-mounted blasters, and the winglets on his forearms with big blasters, but no actual hand-held accessories. The HPM is a joke, not because it's not cool but because it's so mind-numbingly simple, just rotate the blaster hanging off the figure's back over his shoulder, that's it. The gun is cool by itself but also has a nifty projectile, it's more of a sensor really with a clear metallic-yellow dome at the tip covering the warhead, nicely sculpted.

Overall - Slugslinger gets a 4.5 out of 5, if not for his inherent floppiness and some shoulder limitations, maybe a pair of pistols, he'd be a 5. His wide, sleek alt mode is very cool, his transformation is impressive, and his bot mode is a welcome addition to the Decepticon ranks.

Darth Vader is becoming the Mickey Mouse of Star Wars.

"In Brooklyn, a castle, is where dwell I"

The use of a lightsaber does not make one a Jedi, it is the ability to not use it.

Re: Transformers: Energon & Beyond

I found something new. Sort of.

I found the TRU exclusive 2 pack Optimus and Megatron. $24.99 is not bad for what is really a $20 and a $10 to0gether, so I went ahead and got it. It of course had nothing to do with the fact that I went to six places this week, only to find out the had new stuff, and someone bought all the ones I don't have. Shoot me.

Re: Transformers: Energon & Beyond

These pics look weird to me, like they were fudging it or taking it with a weird cellphone cam, the gun is transformed wrong (no driveshaft even), and having the convertible top as a shield seems really silly ("I'll stop laser blasts with my cloth top which can barely even keep rain out of the main cabin compartment!" ) but this figure still looks like one of the best yet.

Picked up the OP vs Megs 2pack tonight, haven't even had a chance to open it yet, but glad to get it. I hit 2 TRUs and both had 'em, though one had 'em up above, I had to ask the guy at the help desk if they had 'em because I didn't see it.

Darth Vader is becoming the Mickey Mouse of Star Wars.

"In Brooklyn, a castle, is where dwell I"

The use of a lightsaber does not make one a Jedi, it is the ability to not use it.